Face mask



Jan 15 19359 M. L. BLATT FACE MASK Filed Dec. 14, 1931 Patented Jan. 15,1935 UNITED! STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

Thelinvention relates to face masks particularly adapted for theprevention of infection coming from the mouth and nose of one indi-.vidual to that of another. and while'my. improved mask is :particularlyadaptedito .be worn by attendants and physicians in contagious diseasehospitals, by surgeons in operating rooms, nursesvcaring for children orby mothers Withinfections caring forrtheir children, it will be apparentthat the device hasnot only these but other uses for which face masksmay be employed.

It is stated upon reliable authority that the ger'msofiinfectiousdiseases arecommonly expelled seven feet or more from the mouth of ahuman being in talking andthat such infectious disease germs areforcibly expelled a distance of twelve feetor more in'icoughing .orsneezing.

Furthermore, it is recognized that a.relatively large number of theinfectious diseases are .communicated by germs that are transmitted bytalking, coughing or sneezing in the air and which are taken into. the.respiratory tract through the mouth or nose of anotherandit is theprimary object of my invention toproduce an improved face mask that willtendto prevent the wearer undersubstantially any and allconditionsfromexpelling into the air or taking into the respiratoryitracti throughthe mouth or nose infectious-ordisease germsland particularly such asmight ordinarily be communicated to the mouth and noseiof anindividual.byepersons expelling the same in coughing, sneezing, talking, etc.

It is a further-object f the invention to provide animproved face maskwhich'is simple and economical. in construction-and efiicientinoperation for the describedtpurposes.

It is a further objectof the invention vto provide an improved facemaskof thedescribed characterthat .will be simple andeconomical inconstruction, of light weight, easily; applied and may be eiiicientlyused without the use of antiseptic substances.

It is a further object ofthe invention to provide an improved: face maskthat willbea substantiallyimpermeable .to the impactlor contact ofvarious infectious disease germs.

Other objects of the invention 1 will appear fromathe followingdescription which is directed to the preferred 1 embodiment of my.improved f ace mask :with: particular r reference :to the illustrationsappearing in the drawing: which-forms a part of the specification, thenovel-features .being set :forth inzthe .appendedrclaims.

In.the said drawing:

Fig. 1 is an elevationlview of my improved. mask showing. the manner inwhich it is appliedvover the nose and mouth of the wearer;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation View being'takenat substantially. an angle ofninety degrees from the view of Fig. 1.

Fig-B isa plan .view of the mask with certain portions thereof brokenaway. to better illustrate details of construction.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view through the body of themask being takensubstantially on the line 44" of Fig;- 3 looking substantially in the:direction indicated by the arrows.

Fig. .5 is aperspective: view of the device of Fig. 3 illustrating themanner'in which the same is folded and arranged fort application :tolthe head of the wearer toicover and protect the nose and mouth.

The body portion of 'my" improved maskconsists of a sheet of somelightmaterial th'atfis' preferably substantially impermeable to diseasegerms. Such vmaterial should alsobeipossessed of flexibility and.furthermore, and what-is: also of prime importance, itshould have thequality of takingand retaining a crease. The'material that 1prefer'asthe inner or baseportion of the body of mymask is animp'erviousto moisture sheet of very thin transparent pure regeneratedcelluloseof about the thickness of. ordinary very thin- -calenderedwriting paper oranalogous material that is quite commonly sold on themarket under various trade names as- Cell'ophane orGlassine andthe:like.

Bacteriological tests show that such a sheet of: regenerated celluloseis substantially imper vious to th'e impact of germs or other bacterialparticles: and-furthermore, such material upon being sharply folded orcreased will takea" permanent an'gular for-m orcrease which is a mostessential feature of my improved face-mask;

In theconstruction of I the body portion -of my improved mask withparticular 'referen'ceto the showing; in Figs. 3 andv 4,: thewreferencecharacter 10 designates a substantially rectangular sheet .of thincelluloseyglassine or its-'equivalent material and on-the outerlfacesthereof, Ilpla'ce the sheets 11' and 1 2, of as wovengsurgical'agauze orbutter or cheese. clothrwhich" consists 'ofa loosevweave of cotton orlinen thread ina com- ,paratively;loose mesh :weave with respect to thewarp and weft threads; The woven fabric sheets ,11 and: .12 willpreferably ,rbe i-attach'ed to the outer-w periphery. of {13119 1rectangular sheet 10- of cellulosewby suitable: stitchinglas zdesigL-nated by the reference character 13, Figs. 3 and 4, and preferably thesheets 11 and 12 will be cut somewhat larger than the inner andimpermeable sheet so that around their outer peripheries they may befolded over to increase their thickness and improve the finish of theassembled article around the outer periphery thereof where stitchedtogether by the stitching 13.

This assembly of the two sheets of cloth and the sheet of cellulosecompletes the mask with the exception of the attaching device and thecreasing that should be formed parallel with and midway between the topand bottom of the composite sheet forming the mask body.

At the corners of the body portion, flexible tape strips which may be ofwoven cotton or analogous material, may be stitched as shown orotherwise suitably secured. Such flexible woven tape strips willpreferably be constructed and formed in the following manner: First, twostrips of inch width cotton tape, about 12 inches long, will be securedby sewing to the upper corners of the mask as designated at 14 and 15,Fig. 3, these tapes being designated generally by the referencecharacters 16 and 1'7. Other shorter strips of similar material, asdesignated by reference characters 18, 19, will be secured at and 21respectively to the lower opposite corners of the mask body and thesetape strips 18, 19 attached to the lower corners will preferably beabout 3 inches in length and they will be brought into contact with thelonger tapes 16 and 17 at points as designated at 22, 23 about 2% inchesfrom the point of attachment at 14 and 15.

The mask body thus constructed and with the attaching tapes as describedis then in condition for use after it is provided with the medianlongitudinal crease or fold as designated by the line in Fig. 5.

The fact thatthe lower tape strips 18 and 19 are somewhat longer thanportions of the tape attached to the upper corners between the points ofattachment of the lower tapes and the upper corners will enable the maskto be applied to the face of an ordinary wearer in the most efficientmanner so that the mask will substantially cover along its upper edge asindicated in Figs. 1 and 2, the nose of the wearer while at the sametime, it will pass beneath the eyes so as to avoid interference withvision while the lower half of the mask body below the longitudinalmedian line 25 will pass beneath the chin of the wearer and be held inthe desired position by reason of the described differences in thelengths of tape branches from their point of union at 22, 23respectively.

An important and necessary feature of the invention resides in thecrease along the longitudinal median line 25 that is given to the bodyof the mask and which causes the inner thin impervious cellulose sheet10 to take a permanent crease so that when the mask is applied in themanner illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the median line of longitudinalfold 25 will be posed about as illustrated in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 thustending to hold the body of the mask away from the mouth and to providelateral ventilating openings that extend to the ends of the mask sheetas it is wrapped around the face. In other words, the angular housingthus formed by the fold along the median line of fold 25 serves as aventilating passage having its two lateral termini as indicated at 26,Figs. 1 and 2,

on each side of the face just in front of the ears and it will be seenthat this ventilating passage has its discharge terminals pointingbackwardly toward and adjacent the ears of the wearer when the mask isapplied to the face over the mouth and nose as illustrated in Figs. 1and 2.

Obviously the mask may be secured in the usual manner by tying theterminal strands 16 and 17 together over the back of the head and thesestrands may conveniently be passed over the top of the ears where theyjoin the sides of the head to further assist in holding the de vice inposition upon the face of the wearer.

The fact that the inner layer of non-permeable material, consisting ofthe thin cellulose material or its equivalent, will take and retain apermanent crease, gives the device, which is light, economical andeificient, a superior ventilating function because as illustrated inFig. 1 i

and Fig. 2 it will be seen that when the mask is bent over the face ofthe wearer with a median line of creased fold 25 extending horizontallyabout over the mouth, there will be a substantial housing formed betweenthe nose and the lower tip of the chin beneath the mask for breathingpurposes with the air passages extending backwardly and dischargingtoward the ears of the wearer to prevent a sense of suffocation when thedevice is in position upon the face of the wearer.

Furthermore, the covering of cheese cloth or loosely woven gauze,especially on the inner side of the mask, gives the same a morecomfortable feeling when coming into contact with the skin of the wearerand the looseness of the weave of the inner gauze also increases theventilating function, and has adsorptive and absorptive functions.

This will tend to an extent to receive and in most cases prevent theexpiration of germs that may be in the currents of air breathed andexpelled through either the mouth or nose of the wearer.

But the important feature of my invention resides in the bacteriologicalfeature of the mask in that the inner lamina of thin cellulose hydrateor its equivalent is substantially impermeable and yet so light andeconomical to construct that the mask may be worn and supplied at areasonable cost and worn with a minimum amount of discomfort andfurthermore, may be discarded whenever it is desired on account of itseconomical aspects. While in the construction of the inner impenetrablebody portion of the mask I prefer to use the transparent cellulosematerial, I find that there are certain other flexible sheet materialsthat partake of the before mentioned characteristics of nonpermeability,and flexibility and are able to take and retain a crease that gives themvalue as a substitute for cellulose materials in the manufacture of mymask. For example, I find that there are some forms of sized paperseither with or without a treatment of parafline or analogous materialthat will serve as the inner layer of the mask body. Thin sheets ofcelluloid resembling the normal transparent cellulose product as beforedescribed may in a. like manner be used when of a nature and consistencyto take and retain the described crease without breaking or becomingpervious to moisture at the crease.

I claim:

1. A face mask comprising an imperforate sheet of relatively thinimpermeable to moisture material of flexible character having length andbreadth and the quality of permanently retaining a crease upon a line offold when sharply folded upon itself, surface coverings on each of theopposite surfaces of the sheet of impermeable material said surfacecoverings being formed of sheets of loosely woven textile fabric and.united around the periphery of the sheet, the said sheet with saidcoverings being folded upon a median longitudinal line of fold wherebyto form a permanent crease in the body of the sheet of impermeablematerial, and flexible mask attaching devices in the form of tapessecured to the mask body at the respective ends thereof on oppositesides of the terminals of the said crease in the mask body whereby themask may be positioned over the face of the wearer with the apex of thecrease therein extending outwardly and transversely of the face andsubstantially over the lips of the wearer.

2. A face mask comprising a substantially rectangular, elongated,relatively thin, imperforate sheet of cellulose hydrate, in combinationwith an enclosing envelope of gauze, the said cellulose hydrate sheetwithin said envelope being creased longitudinally upon a median line offold extending transversely between the respective ends of the saidsheet, and flexible attaching strips secured to the respective cornersof the described assembled rectangular mask whereby the creased maskbody may be positioned over the face of the wearer with the apex of thecrease extending outwardly and transversely of the face whereby to formin conjunction with said covered face surfaces a substantially closedbreathing tunnel over the mouth and nose orifices of the wearer, theterminal openings of which breathing tunnel extend rearwardly of theface and toward the ears of the wearer.

3. A face mask comprising a rectangular sheet of relatively thintransparent, creasable cellulose hydrate provided with a permanentcrease extending longitudinally of the sheet on a substantially medianline of fold. extending longitudinally between the respective ends ofsaid sheet, a textile envelope covering the surfaces of the cellulosesheet, and flexible attaching means adapted to secure the composite bodyof the face mask over the nose and mouth of a wearer with the concaveside of the fold or creased portion of the mask next the face of thewearer and with the mask body flexed to correspond substantially to thecontour of the face and the said creased extremities thereof providing aventilating function by providing air passages opening over the cheeksof the wearer, the venting terminals of which are directed. towards theears of the wearer.

4. A face mask comprising a substantially rectangular sheet ofrelatively thin imperforat-e waterproof material capable of taking andre taining a crease, the same being folded and creased upon a medianline of fold and subsequently partially opened, a textile supportingenvelope within which the imperforate rectangular waterproof sheet ispositioned, and flexible attaching means secured to the respectivecorners of the rectangular mask body thus formed comprising a pair offlexible integral strips secured to the opposite ends of the rectangularbody of the mask on one side of the crease, and a pair of flexiblebranch strips secured to the respective ends of the mask body in spacedapart relation to the points of securement of the first said strips andon opposite sides of the said median crease therein from the points ofsecurernent of the first said strips and the terminals of which aresecured to the first said strips remote from the body portion of themask body and at a distance along the first said strips from the maskbody which is unequal to the length of said branch strips, whereby toprovide greater looseness on one side of the creased median line of foldof the mask than on the other side of the crease to accommodate thecontour of the chin when the mask is in adjusted position on the face ofthe wearer.

MAURICE L. BLATT.

